I just wanted to say Belgium does not have universal healthcare as stated above...you have to pay up front to see a doctor or dentist and you must provide your SIS card and your hospitalisation insurance card to even get in at the ER...but you do get papers from all these people where you can then claim a certain amount of it back...providing you have paid your correct contributions in of course...vets here are much more understanding I think and will let you pay large bills off in monthly payments...and the govornment has recently introduced a scheme where if any bill you reciieve is over E500 you can ring the company and ask them to split it into 2 payments and if it is over E1000 then you can request for 3 or more payments...I have just done this myself with the annual road tax bill for the van and the motorbikes we own

howeverI should in fact shut the hell up on this one as I did a bit of research and apparently I am way better off here than you are there...I truly didnt realise how bad it could be there as all we are ever fed is from the TV and media about how everyone and his granny wants to move to America "the land of plenty"...I did used to dream of moving there myself..Add even thought about interviewing with Qwest..

Lately the economy has hit hard for us as well .. ..what I have done to kind of help over the past few years ...

when it comes time to give a gift to someone ..for a birthday ...holiday ...retirement whatever ..instead of buying something for them specifically ...I donate to their local rescues or shelters in their names.(even if it is out of state)..I give them a card with the gift I have given in their name ...either cash or a good sized bag of decent quality pet food ...or whatever the place has on it's wish list...

the shelters and rescues will send a "thank you" as well

I figure what goes around comes around and this is my solution one bowl of food at a time ...I have even paid a rescue fee for my mother so when she was ready to adopt and found the dog she wanted ..she could just adopt! ...win win ...

I just think this is all so sad and hope that my part is a little bit of the solution

TheRedQueen wrote:If it comes to losing my house, at least I could move back with my parents...I do have an "out". (I'm sure they'd love to hear that...they finally just got my 27 yo brother out)

It's rough out there.

Yeah, my parents would NOT be too thrilled if me and Dropkid had to move in (with or without dog and guinea pigs), they've still got my 29 and 27 year old brothers there!

In my family (parents, 6 kids, 1 sister-in-law and 4 grandkids) only my parents, me, and Dropkid have insurance and my 2 nephews and niece do have medicaid. It's scary, I worry all the time about what of something happens to one of my brothers. In fact, one of my older brothers got jumped outside a bar 2 years ago and landed up in the hospital for a week, and had over a year where he had left sided weakness and numbness (initially there were fears that he would be paralysed on that side), he makes his living as a tattoo artist, and he's a lefty! He was luckily able to track down a couple grants that would cover the majority of his costs (over $100,000!!!!), but they were a onetime deal sort of thing, and he still has $15,000 to pay back on his own.

Luckily, I can pretty much do all vet care myself and if it's something I can't do, 3 of the vets I work with I can call who would help for almost nothing.

Malli wrote: I still stand firm in that there are way too many people who are not willing to see they could really afford to care for their pet.

But my point is that the article is not about those people, it's about people who are losing their homes, jobs, cars, everything. A designer clothes wearing new car driving tool is in no way similar to the situation being talked about in the article.

Marinepits wrote:Neither Malli nor I are trying to downplay the problems that others are going through. We were simply talking about our experiences and certainly not equating the two different types of people.

I wasn't trying to say that, I was trying to steer the conversation back to what the article is addressing, and I think comparing the asshats with pathetic excuses we ALL have run into and despise detracts from the point of the article. I'm not trying to offend anyone, I just don't want the the heart of the subject to get lost in the shuffle.

KJS wrote:I just wanted to say Belgium does not have universal healthcare as stated above...you have to pay up front to see a doctor or dentist and you must provide your SIS card and your hospitalisation insurance card to even get in at the ER...but you do get papers from all these people where you can then claim a certain amount of it back...providing you have paid your correct contributions in of course...vets here are much more understanding I think and will let you pay large bills off in monthly payments...and the govornment has recently introduced a scheme where if any bill you reciieve is over E500 you can ring the company and ask them to split it into 2 payments and if it is over E1000 then you can request for 3 or more payments...I have just done this myself with the annual road tax bill for the van and the motorbikes we own

Ahh, so it's more like everyone is able to purchase insurance rather than universal healthcare, I wasn't sure how it worked! That bill splitting thing sounds awesome, and it sure would make a lot of things a lot more doable for many people if it were that way here!

KJS wrote:howeverI should in fact shut the hell up on this one as I did a bit of research and apparently I am way better off here than you are there...I truly didnt realise how bad it could be there as all we are ever fed is from the TV and media about how everyone and his granny wants to move to America "the land of plenty"...I did used to dream of moving there myself..Add even thought about interviewing with Qwest..

Yeah, even the media here downplays how bad it is for a lot of people, and a lot of the political commentators have the "It's your fault you're poor!" stance, and a lot of people here in the US buy into it, not realizing how easy it is for them to end up in the same situation.

luvypitbulls wrote:Lately the economy has hit hard for us as well .. ..what I have done to kind of help over the past few years ...

when it comes time to give a gift to someone ..for a birthday ...holiday ...retirement whatever ..instead of buying something for them specifically ...I donate to their local rescues or shelters in their names.(even if it is out of state)..I give them a card with the gift I have given in their name ...either cash or a good sized bag of decent quality pet food ...or whatever the place has on it's wish list...

the shelters and rescues will send a "thank you" as well

I figure what goes around comes around and this is my solution one bowl of food at a time ...I have even paid a rescue fee for my mother so when she was ready to adopt and found the dog she wanted ..she could just adopt! ...win win ...

I just think this is all so sad and hope that my part is a little bit of the solution

I've been trying to do this, too. About once every other month when I go to Sam's club with my mom I pick up a 50lb. bag of the best of what they offer and donate it to my favorite shelter, since they can always use food donations. I know it's not much, and I'd probably just spend it on something there I can live without (like a 10lb box of frozen fish nuggets or something), but I think every little bit helps since I can't give a lot of money or time or a home.

I have always in my career as a nurse taken care of indigent folks and I dont judge how people get where they are ..that is not my place in life ..the only people I have to worry about how they get where they are going are me and mine.....and really this is embarassing but I am an RN and have no healthcare!

I frankly can not afford it right now...fortunatly I have options and can get care if I need but that is because I know how..

my vet takes payments...I buy all my vaccines in bulk and splt them with friends...meds for dogs and people .. come frome various sources as needed (I know drug reps luckily!)

food for my dogs come from a 4H'r who sells the best quailty meat you can buy ...for cheap! I do buy high priced dog food because I figure the trade off saves in vet bills

there are solutions of you look for them ..but that thought, follow through, time and gas...and when I crisis hits your family none of that is always possible

so while I can I help with what I can for people and dogs...that way if something does happen to me I know where the hook ups are!

This entire thing is sad.... like others here I would take up another part time job before giving up my pets, but then again I don't have kids.

KJS wrote:I hope these people have considered giving up smoking,drinking and gambling...before they give up thier pets....Its a shame they can not be re directed to specialist money management cousellors first...or even ask me where they can cut back on expenses...I would help

I think that is HIGHLY arrogant and assuming of you to say. This statement assumes that all poor people drink and smoke and gamble. How much more stereotypical can you get??

KJS wrote...howeverI should in fact shut the hell up on this one as I did a bit of research and apparently I am way better off here than you are there...I truly didnt realise how bad it could be there as all we are ever fed is from the TV and media about how everyone and his granny wants to move to America "the land of plenty"...I did used to dream of moving there myself..Add even thought about interviewing with Qwest..

K explained her statement.

I grew up in Germany... you wouldn't believe just how stereo-typical America is portrayed in the rest of the world at times.

Very sad. It's very hard. And while it's easy for some people to say give up this, give up that. They already ARE doing whatever they can do but it's still not enough. So many people are getting laid off from their jobs. I live alone in New York. I'm in a rent stablized apartment, pay all utilities, work in Manhattan. I JUST make ends meet. My dog just had to have surgery. I got it done but it's a struggle. It's hard.....but I will tell you this, I'll eat cereal every damn day before I give away my dog.